Bridle and bridle-bit



(No Model.)

W. H. SANBORN,

BRIDLE AND BRIDLE BIT.

No. 352,506. Patented Nov. 9, 1886.:

* UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI E.

\VILLIAM H. SANBORN, OF ROCHESTER, NEW'YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO WILLIAM H. STEVENS, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

BRIDLE AND BRIDLE-BIT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 352,506, dated November 9, 1886.

Application filed August 16, 1886. Serial No. 210,94. (No modeLl To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H; SANBORN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Controlling Horses; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to means for controlling horses; and it consists in the application to a four-ringed bit, so called, of a spheroidal-shaped button adapted to be pressed against the roof of the mouth by the lifting of the inner rings and the depressing of the driving-rings; and it further consists in the application to such a bit of a bridle-rigging adapted to force said button against the roof of the mouth, the said bridle being capable of being used as an ordinary driving-bridle.

My invention is illustrated by means of the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows my bit and bridle as applied to the horse. Fig. 2 is a view of the bit. Fig. 3 is a side view of the button. Fig. 4 is a view of an alternate form of bit to be used in special cases.

A represents a four-ring bit, a a being the reining-rings, and a the sliding rings. In the center of the bit is the spheroidal-shaped button a, which is linked or hinged to the two end sections of the bit. Although I prefer to use a button of spheroidal form, as here shown, yet the button can be made of any form, so long as it has a convex surface projecting upward toward the roof of the mouth when the bit is in position. This button may be of wood, hard rubber, or other material which will be firm and capable of exerting a decided pressure against the roof of the mouth.

In operating my device the bit is placed in the horses mouth. The driving-rein B is buckled to its ring in the usual manner. The two parts of the overdraw-check are buckled to the loose rings on each side of the mouth, and are then passed through the keeper or loop I, and thence. through the ringsOon the crown-piece, terminating in the loops d,which are buckled to the 'overdraw at the required point. The rein B passes through the loop d, this loop being adjusted on the overdraw, as will be. hereinafter described.

The lower end of the keeper I has attached to it the thong or cord J, and it is held in its place by passing the ends of the cords through the rings J, which are secured to the overdraw near the bit, and by tying the ends over the nose of the horse.

G is the throat-latch, and C is the cheekstrap, which is made double, and is adjusted by the single buckle c.

In using my apparatus for controlling vicious horses, draw the keeper I down far enough to hold the bitloosely against the roof of the horses mouth, and I secure it in position by the cord J. That portion of the overdraw which comes between the keeper and the bit will then be at or very nearly at right angles to the roof of the horses mouth. The loop d is then buckled up to a considerable distance from the end of the overdraw. If, now, a pull is exerted on the rein B, the overdraw D will be drawn downward from the top of the head, the draft being thence exerted through the keeper I to the ring a. The ring a is at the same time drawn downward and backward by the pull on the rein, so that the shank of the bit is formed into a lever, of which the sliding ring or forms the fulcrum, the central portion of the bit bearing the button on being forced upward against the roof of the mouth, and there pressing against the superior maxillary nerve. This pressure has an instantaneous effect on the horse, controlling him and rendering him quiet and tractable. The force with which the button a is forced against the roof of the mouth is regulated by the keeper I being slid up or down on the nose of the horse. The lower down it is placed the more nearly does the lower end of the overdraw come to being at right angles to the roof of the mouth, and the more directly does the button press. bridle is also effected by the adjustment of the loop d on the overdraw D. When this loop is well up toward the top of the horses head, a pull on the rein acts more directly on the overdraw than when it is near the end, as shown in the drawings.

The bit may be used as a simple snaffle-bit The controlling action of the 5 "ter-hook in the usual way.

by fastening the driving-rein through both the rings a and a? and withdrawing'it from the loop d. In this case an addition is attached to the overdraw, extending it back to the wa- When rigged in this manner,the pull on the rein simply draws thebit back into the horses month.

In Fig. 4 I show another form of bit in which my pressure-button may be used. In this bit I use a chain, 1?, covered with a rubber envelope, B, so molded in the center as to form a button or projection eccentric with the shank of the-bit, the amount of projection on one side being greater than on the other. The rubber which envelops the chain is sufliciently soft to impart considerable flexibility to the bit, and the projection or button is of sutficient firmness to exert the desired pressure on the roof of the mouth. The projection may be integral with the shank or attached to it. This flexible rubber bit, when applied to the horses mouth,operates on precisely the same principle as that shown in Fig. 2; but it is much less harsh in its action, and is therefore adapted to horses having sensitive mouths. 'By constructing the central projection, R. eccentric with the shank I amable to regulate to a certain extent the'amount of pressure produced. By turning the bit so that the longer or shorter projection shall come uppermost I produce greater or less pressure on the roof of the mouth.

' My pressurebutton may be applied to any four-ring bit having a joint in the center, or

-,5 to a semi-flexible shank which will transmit the pressure from the inner ring or fulcrum to the button.

It is evident that the form of the under side of the button is immaterial, as only the upper edge comes in contact with the mouth.v

I am aware that bits have been made with drivingrings, ,and loose rings within said driving-rings, and central links jointed to the two parts of the shank; but such links were not adapted or designed to be pressed against the roof of the mouth.

I claim I 1. A flexible bit having an enlarged central portion of button shape or convex form projecting above the other portions of the bit, and provided with driving-rings and loose rings within said driving rings, substantially as shown. 7

2. The combination of a drivingbridle, a flexible bit having a central enlargement or upward-projecting portion, driving-rings,and loose rings within said driving-rings, an overdraw-check attached to said loose rings, and

provided at the ends with loops through which pass the driving reins, aloop or keeper through roof of the 0 

